Lickable ‘Jaffa Cake’ lift goes up in London

London
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McVitie’s has unveiled a new art installation that consists of an elevator with walls adorned with Jaffa Cake-flavoured stickers that people can lick on their way up and down a London office block.

The installation – which is made up of 1,325 individual Jaffa Cake stickers – is being trialled at the London offices, in Great Portland Street, of the communications company Engine.

Speaking to Female First, Philippa Tilley – the senior brand manager for McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes – explained the thinking behind the project: “We are all about bringing a bit more fun to life and this was the perfect way to get a little joy straight to stressed-out office workers. We hope the lifts raise a smile, give people a taste for Jaffa Cakes and encourages them to go and buy a pack for the office.”

In a report published in the Daily Mail, asks about the hygiene implications of the installation, to which Tilley replied, “Once a Jaffa Cake-flavoured [sticker] is licked the spot is removed by a lift attendant who is in the lift the whole time staff have access. His job is to stop any licking crossover, and potential germ spreading.”

Smashing orangey bit

A traditional Jaffa Cake is a sweet cake/biscuit consisting of a round hard-sponge base, on which sits an orange-flavoured jelly disc – known by generations of Jaffa Cake-eaters as the “smashing orangey bit” – and then topped with chocolate.

Many different companies from all over the world produce their own versions of Jaffa Cakes, but the original ones were created by – and are still manufactured by – McVitie’s, having been introduced, in 1927, by McVitie and Price. The confection derives its name from Jaffa oranges – those sweet oranges that are native to Jaffa. Ironically, according to a 2008 survey, one in ten parents thought that Jaffa Cakes counted towards the UK-recommended five-a-day intake of fruit and vegetables, while one in twenty thought oranges didn’t!

As well as the original orange-flavoured Jaffa Cakes, McVitie’s have at various times introduced different-flavoured ones, including blackcurrant, lemon and lime and strawberry, while Cadbury’s have introduced Jaffa Cubes and Stiffys produce a Jaffa Cake Vodka!

Of its unique elevator experience, Engine confirmed via Twitter that “they were definitely worth a lick, & made the corridors smell great!”